[Closed] Clio II - bad buy?

I've driven a few and they're great fun, but they never felt like a solidly built car and no one buys a Renault Sport car to pootle to the shops so it's going to have seen some action.

http://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-buying-guides/ph-buying-guide-renaultsport-clio-172-182/25789

Are the cars generally poorly built (eg with lots of cabin rattles)?

Oh yes 8)

Also, are they prone to rusting, and if so, is rust usually terminal?

Nope, things like plastic front wings help that. Rust elsewhere isn't really a problem either

Apparently they need to have timing belts and water pump etc replaced fairly frequently (4 years / 40,000 miles), and it's an expensive job due to poor access.

Around £550-600 all in. Needs a specialist, NOT a Renault garage (seriously, main dealers seem to not have a clue about these. The timing needs special tooling that most dont have)

I've had a 182 for 3 years now, we only bought it as a toy for 6 months or so and cant bare to get rid! Problems have been very few and far between, mostly just things that would go over time on any car (corroded ABS rings, very minor electrical gremlins, broken spring and that's all I can think of).

The power band is above 5,000rpm but it'll happily play in high revs all day long. Handling is great fun!

Not sure about rust, the Renaultsport ones have aluminium rear quarter panels (expensive to repair in a prang but won't rust).

They are by all accounts great fun to drive. A friend had one when they were new, and the reliability was terrible, to be honest. Another had one around the cambelt change time, and this is basically an engine out job, it will cost you £££s. Both loved driving them though. Proper hot hatch experience. I keep being tempted by them.

The later Trophies were super nice (expensive Sachs dampers and things on them) but also are picking up in value quite a bit so probably no longer worth it (fit nice aftermarket dampers if that's your thing, far cheaper), you can get the more basic ones for really good money, but just budget for the cambelt and be prepared to put up with creaks etc. - it's no Golf GTI

Thanks for all the info. I'll have to take a look. I've noticed quite a lot of standard Clio II's on the road since I've started to look out for them, and they're generally quite shiny for that age of car. I'll need to have a ride in one to see what the ride/noise etc is like. I'm not really sure what sort of car I'm looking for, but the RS Clio (or even a newer Twingo) is probably good fun, but might be a pain to live with.

No rust at all. Rattly interiors, but you're not buying a luxury car.

172/182 prone to killing gearbox mount (dog bone), which will give a huge clonk/rattle on hard acceleration. Easy DIY fix if you have a vice and some spanners.

small oil drip from the gearbox is usually the input shaft seal, and a lot of them do it, don't worry.

As has been said, belt/dephaser pulley/water pump is £500 all in. Plenty of specialists around. Ask for a receipt if they claim it's been done as it's new engine if it goes.

Clutches bite near the top and are quite off and on, even when new. Takes a bit of getting used to.

Great fun, proper little drivers cars, quick enough, handle like go karts. Addictive little things.

Oh, always got around 35/40mpg out of mine, without being careful.

Plenty around that have been looked after, look at cliosport.net for loads of advice and a for sale section in the forum, worth £10 memebership.

I have just bought back my old '02 172 and might sell it...(it was wayyyy overdue a cam belt service that I've just done and it was a Monkey-feather of a job!!) it's a much nicerer car than the Mk3 GTI golf I had and a proper giggle! Yes the ride is a bit choppy, the driving position is awfully offset and the short gearing means that the mpg (combined with a preference for super-unleaded isn't great) but I did buy it back! Only a new love of classic motorbikes is making me think twice

How much would one like yours cost trustyrusty 😉 my mate has the 182 but says the 172 is a better buy for cheaper consumables. Is fast as **** tho I love it

the short gearing means that the mpg (combined with a preference for super-unleaded isn't great)

Compared to what? It smashes pretty much every other hot hatch for fuel economy, especially if you compare a 1*2 to a 197/200 😯

Firestarter, knowing what I do now, I'd have bought a 172 instead of a 182. A phase 1 is a bit simpler and both phases are lighter than 182s and a load cheaper, but with no real downsides in comparison (phase 1 interiors are definitely looking old though)

Mine has nearly 137k on the clock and looking at similar ones advertised it's worth about a grand. Any less than that and I'd rather keep it thanks! Lots are advertised cheaper but delicately sidestep cambelt issues...

Mailed you rusty

Had a 172 for years. Loved it. Great car and if you buy one from cliosport likely to have been looked after. Its fast actually quite well specced with electric everything and great seats. V plastic inside though. Phase 2 172 full fat the best and for preference in iceberg silver....

Apparently they need to have timing belts and water pump etc replaced fairly frequently (4 years / 40,000 miles), and it's an expensive job due to poor access.

Timing belt went on my sister's. Don't think it had a massive amount of miles on. 70k maybe. My mother had one too. Spent money on all sorts in the end. Springs and stuff like that. Not what you'd expect for a little car with around 50k miles. They're nice enough to drive and good on fuel in my experience though. Not sure I'd buy an old one.

I've had two Clio's. Both I had serviced regularly.
One a diesel ,like a tank,put 120k miles on it&sold it 12 years ago.it was still running two years ago.
Then I bought a sporty one,2litre boy racermobile. It went like the clappers. I put 99k miles on it.
I gambled & didn't put a second timing belt on it at ~125k. The belt went pop at 129k=the end.
Great car although it did creak a bit at the end(plastic dash area). A new exhaust was an expensive addition I recall.

sister's. Don't think it had a massive amount of miles on. 70k maybe.

You mean she's exceeded the life by an extra 75%? How old was the belt?

Exhausts in 1*2s are only expensive if you buy a Renault one. Around £750 for a cat-back on a 182 (and they come pre-rusted from the factory) or around £350 for a stainless aftermarket one and you get to choose your bbbrrraaaapppp level

Awww so much Clio love! I own 2, a 182 with 123k on the clock and still going strong. Also have a Phase 1 172 which i used daily before the 182 and thats got 130k odd on the clock. That had a harder life though having come from Scotland. Plan is to get that back to some of its former glory as a track toy.

As said above, cambelt changes are a pain. Get on cliosport though as plenty of good specialist about. Other wise great little cars. Most have been thrashed but they like it. Rev limiter tops out at about 7.5k but they used the engine in formula renaults and reved them up to 12k odd so they are fine as long as you keep the cambelt up to date. They tend to break in niggly ways that cost peanuts to fix but are more of an inconvenience. Plenty of spares about for them an patent parts if required but genuine and uprated stuff is available cheap enough. Standard exhausts are made of tin foil but there is a vast array of stainless ones available for less than kwikfit will charge for a mild steel replacement.

You mean she's exceeded the life by an extra 75%? How old was the belt?

Maybe. I doubt she'd changed it to be fair. And it was probably past its sell by date. But most cars rate their belts up to 70k miles, and if you take the risk, many will last much, much longer. I'm not sure I'd want a car that requires an expensive belt change every 40k miles. For many people that's 3 years or less.

But yeah, I was just pointing out that they do fail. Knew someone else that had one fail on a very well looked after car too.

I've a 182 Trophy with 90k-ish on the clock - bought end of 2005, had since new. It's great fun and think I'd rally regret it if I got rid of it. Bit of a pain getting 2 kids in the back, but they love it too.

It's quite pricey for parts when they need replaced, and most work on the engine is quite labour intensive as it's a tight squeeze so body bit need to be removed. I've never thrashed it, but it does occasionally get driven reasonably swiftly. I thought I might have been in for massive bill when the Sachs front shocks stopped damping, but rather than spend £2k+ (!!) on new ones I managed to get them reconditioned for £200 or so - work perfectly now, what a relief!

Let's face it, it's a French car so it's going to have a few issues. Recently had a solenoid for the valve timing and earth strap go. Other than that I've had a couple of broken shock springs (seem quite fragile) rear shocks replaced (quite cheap) and just other general bits and bobs (disks, exhaust parts, etc.). Timing belt was replaced at service (circa 70k) which was a bit pricey, but not too silly.

To be honest I'd probably not buy one 2nd hand if I wasn't 100% confident of the history, but I'll probably run mine till it dies and enjoy every minute of it.

I intend to sell my dull TT and get one of these instead, from these people:

http://www.ktrcarsales.co.uk/used-cars/renault-clio-2-0-vvt-renaultsport-3dr-blandford-forum-201510288233620

Unblown, light, a little bit bonkers and actually quite tough where it counts (although your seat-adjust handle might come off in your hands).

Hopefully have enough over for a CB500x but that's another story.

197/200s are lovely but are off my list sadly 🙁 just couldn't handle mpg in the low 20s